Martin Luther King Jr. has been dead for nearly 46 years; since then, his public image has gradually been watered down from the political warrior he was to a more saintly, almost cuddly, “peace and love” character. I understand that it was probably inevitable that King’s vital role as the 20th century’s most effective fighter for racial and economic justice would be toned down once we entered a more conservative era beginning in the 1980s. Yet someone still has to ask…
What in God’s name was Pat McCrory doing giving the first speech at the annual MLK Jr. prayer breakfast?
About 1,400 people showed up, according to the event’s sponsor, at the McCrorey Family YMCA on Beatties Ford Road (proceeds benefit the Y). Other speakers included Charlotte mayor Patrick Cannon and actor Hill Harper, the latter of which at least talked about King’s role as a confrontational political activist. According to two attendees who spoke on condition of anonymity, “eyebrows shot up, and more than a few people groaned” when McCrory, who wasn’t listed on the program, was introduced. McCrorey YMCA spokesperson Molly Thompson said the Y did not receive a confirmation of the governor’s attendance until after the event’s programs had been printed.
The governor dished out some boilerplate blahblah about how Charlotte’s past leaders embraced the civil rights movement and led the city to a peachy future, and then left early. The gov didn’t mention that those “past leaders'” primary motive was the avoidance of any racial “trouble” that would keep potential investors away from Charlotte, but OK. At least they did more than most other Southern cities at the time, so McCrory’s oratory was only a slightly sweetened version of history.
King’s own history, on the other hand, has been so diluted, he’s hardly recognizable to anyone who remembers him. King was all about in-your-face confrontations with racism and injustice in order to bring about radical changes. Period. These days, though, white people who weren’t around during King’s time are led to think of him as some kind of black Santa Claus who would want all of us to do more community service work and nothing more. That’s bad enough, but for an MLK commemoration event to lead off with a speech from a man who did more than any N.C. governor in memory to stick it to black citizens and the poor of any race – think voter suppression, refusing to expand Medicaid and cutting unemployment insurance – is just ludicrous. The Y’s Thompson, however, stated that “including him was not political. He’s the governor.”
This article appears in Jan 15-21, 2014.
WTF??? Who organized this? Who allowed this?
This article sounds like racisim towards a white governor
I’m curious as to if any other Governor has ever attended? Is it unusal? Kudos to Creative Loafing and John Grooms for asking the very question that occured to me when I saw photos of the event.
Thanks for your comments. But tatjim, it’s pretty hard for me to be a racist toward someone of my identical color. The problem isn’t McCrory’s skin tone, it’s his policies that have inordinately affected black citizens in negative ways that gave his appearance at an MLK event pretty damned surreal.
McCrorys attendance at this event was a cheap political stunt to garner the black vote . Unfortunately for him , it will most likely have the opposite effect .
This article is the exact opposite of what a MLK prayer breakfast should stand for. Okay, we get it. Creative Loafing has a far left liberal agenda but don’t bring MLK into this. MLK was about bringing ALL people together. You should really be ashamed to make an article like this. Not everything is about politics and not everything is about your own political agenda. You guys need to seriously grow up.
Scott Carder, before you talk about what Martin Luther King stood for, perhaps you should find out what he actually believed.
Martin Luther King espoused the “far left liberal agenda” that you deride. He was proud of his association with the left wing of the U.S. Labor movement, and he advocated for economic equality.
Some quotes from Dr. King: “I am more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic.” “There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.”
For King, capitalism was “a system that takes necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes.” He was also staunchly anti-imperialist, and a vocal critic of the war in Viet Nam:
“Our irrational, obsessive anti-communism has led us into too many quagmires to be retained as if it were a mode of scientific thinking.”
Why do you think the FBI had him under surveillance?
King was a great man, and he was proudly, staunchly liberal.
Patmoran, I have no problem giving to those who need help. I do have a problem with redistribution of wealth, taking from people who own their own business and who have worked hard and giving money to people who aren’t able to to do a job or willing to work. Many people are only qualified to flip burgers. Some aren’t even qualified to do that. STFU. MLK was no better than Jesse or Al Sharpton.